Former Patriots WR not surprised by Super Bowl LVII field conditions
It seems the New England Patriots weren't surprised by the field conditions at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., during Super Bowl LVII.
As shared by Conor Ryan of Boston.com, former Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola discussed his experience playing in games held in Glendale, such as Super Bowl XLIX, during an appearance on the "Green Light" podcast.
"When you play a night game in Arizona, for some reason the grass always gets a little dewy at night, and it’s so slick," Amendola said.
He also explained how head coach Bill Belichick forced players to wear a specific type of cleat meant to help them gain better traction during the Super Bowl XLIX showdown against the Seattle Seahawks in February 2015.
"One Super Bowl we played in, Bill made it a mandatory seven-stud game," Amendola recalled. "We were all [expletive] and moaning, but we didn’t have too many slips."
The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in Super Bowl LVII earlier this month, but the game's outcome was somewhat overshadowed by the special grass that was grown for the stadium's surface. That grass caused multiple players to lose their footing during the contest, and The Athletic's Doug Haller noted that Philadelphia pass-rusher Haason Reddick said after the loss that State Farm Stadium provided "the worst field I’ve ever played on."
Amendola suggested Reddick and others from both teams should've been better prepared ahead of Feb. 12.
"On that surface, you’ve got to switch the tires out and put the seven-studs in," Amendola said. "I feel like you get a lot better traction. You don’t feel like you can play as fast in them, but at the same time, you’re chopping it up, you’re gripping the turf. … Anybody that slipped [in Super Bowl LVII], look at the cleats they were wearing. They were probably wearing the wrong tires."
In the end, both the Chiefs and Eagles had to deal with treacherous field conditions equally that fateful Sunday night. Nevertheless, Philadelphia fans may be left wondering what could have been had the Eagles' top defensive stars not been playing on such a slippery surface with the Vince Lombardi Trophy on the line.
More must-reads: